The Labor enquirer., 1887-08-06
tn. HONEY eunsr1os.
A. O. GraaI Tinishss Up ths Article Ne
gun Last week.

In order TO ascertain what must be the
foundation for money, It will be necessary
to revert again to the definition given by
myself in the first subject, viz: Money Is
. certificate for value delivered, which GER
tificate has received general recognition,
and which, therefore, entities and secures
to the holder a reimbursement to the ex-
tent Of the same amount Of value. 1t is
substantially the same definition as those
OF Il. Peshine Smith and Bastiat as quoted
by the author OF "what Constitutes
Money"
A moments thought will convince any
one that there is now no such money in
existence and, therefore, our so-called
money" Is not money pure and simple.
but something which is used as money be-
cause we have nothing better. The cur
rency does not consist of certificates for
value delivered, but it consists of prom
ises-to- pay, not supported by actual
values in possession Of the governments
issuing them but by the supposed or real
power Of the government to tax the peo-
pie, to extort that value from them. So it
would be in case we adopted the system
advocated by the author of "What Consti-
tutes Money" the money" would not be
based upon actual value in the possession
Of the government, but upon value which
the government supposes it could possess
itself Of, in case 1t we're called upon to do
30. The French monetary system, to
which the writer referred, is like the rest
based upon the power of the government
to tax the people.
The writer stoops low enough here to
send into the world the lie that in France
''labor is everywhere employed and amply
rewarded, while prosperity crowns every
department Of trade" To issue this false
hood in the face of the almost uninter-
rupted stagnation in the silk-industries,
and the woeful poverty Of the French
miners-in short, the desperate condition
of the French proletariat generally, re-
quires a cool effrontery which can only be
expected from demagogue with whom it
is of more importance to make point"
than to establish the truth.
Let US adhere to the first principles and
hold fast to the accepted definitions of
money and it isvery doubtful If We can
go astray nay, it is impossible to go
astray IL we have succeeded in fully COM
pretending the meaning of the term
money.
II money is generally recognized GER
tihcate for value delivered, then it must
represent all the value delivered, neither
more nor less. Money based on gold, or
on a promise to pay gold, is based on an
imaginary value which attaches to the
gold on account of its scarcity; money
based on real estate security would also
be based on imaginary value, attached to
the real estate in the same way as it is at
tached to gold: |. g., on account of its
scarcity, for until the land, or the most
desirable land, is placed under title of
possession, and More land is in demand, the
land will have no more value in exchange
and would be no better security than the
atmosphere.
How, then, can we have a money system
which will give assurance that each note,
bill or token, is just what it purports to
be, token or certificate declaring that
valuable service, equal to the denomina
tion presented, has been rendered, and
which we can all accept with implicit faith
that IL will not and cannot fluctuate?
About all economists, from the time of
Adam Smith, agree that labor produces
all value; then number of them get mud
died, and attach'value to things which are
scarce, attach it because they are scarce
forgetting that scarcity does not put more
labor into them and therefore does not
add to their value this scarcity does not
represent value, but power to extort under
conditions, for instance conditions which
makcthe scarce article the measure of
values, rs gold or land, as a basis for
money, or when they make any of the
means of production or the resources of
life private property.
II we are satisfied, then. that only labor
is creative of values, we must be very
careful to have nothing serve as basis
for onr money-system which does not de-
rive its valuS from labor and labor alone.
Anything done by nature, and which we
cannot all and each furnish separately or
collectively, will not do. Our basis must
be within reach and at the command of
everyone. Now, what is it. Karl Marx
has told us. II is TIME and working force.
No labor can be performed without time.
The average necessary amount of human
labor required to produce given article
should be the meter by which We deter
mine its value.
But the money, in order to promote
harmony and facilitate exchange, must be
issued by an agent who has facilities for
knowing the average necessary amount of